The
1966 Tampa tornado family was a deadly
tornado family that affected the I-4 corridor in Central Florida from the
Tampa Bay area to
Brevard County on April 4, 1966. Two
tornadoes affected the region, each of which featured a path length in excess of . One of the tornadoes produced estimated F4 damage on the
Fujita scale; it remains one of only two F4 tornadoes to strike the
U.S. state of
Florida, the other of which occurred in
1958. Both F4 tornadoes occurred during
El Niño years. Eleven people were killed across the state, including three in the city of
Tampa and seven in
Polk County. The F4 tornado remains the fourth-deadliest tornado event recorded in Florida; only tornadoes on March 1962,
February 2007, and
February 1998 caused more deaths in the state. All of the events were induced by
non-tropical cyclones. The two tornadoes are officially listed as continuous events, but the tornadoes' damage paths did not cross the entire state, and
downbursts may have been responsible for destruction near Lake Juliana and the
Kissimmee–
Saint Cloud area. However, the combination of tornado and downburst destruction was continuous in Central Florida.